Business Plan Balancing Act - Concise or Detailed, Long or Short?

The Small Business Administration agrees with the consensus of experts that a typical business plan should be 30-50 pages in length, and I tend to agree...in a "perfect world." First of all, no matter the length of a plan, be concise and lengthy items of a couple pages or more should almost always be in an appendix. As for plan length, time constraints and smart budgeting often suggest a two-phased plan approach is wise, where a plan of 10 or 15 pages, with a financial forecast and Phase I market analysis, is often sufficient to gain the lender/investor's conditional commitment. Thereafter, the complete plan can be finalized. There are many other factors that dictate the length of a business plan, such as expanding an existing business or developing new products or markets.

The Executive Summary should always be concise yet still tell the whole story, and we suggest one page in length for every ten pages of a business plan for a rough guide. There are many components to Business Plans, and balancing length and time will dictate costs and success. Balance...don't over do it, but do enough, and do that for each component of your plan. A truly expert team can guide that process, and saving time will almost always save money along the way.